Thursday, February 16, 2012

Volume 62 is a collection that's been made in the name of Doom. What we have here is mostly progressive rock, from some albums that may or may not have been 'heavy' through-out but had at least one track that invokes that indefinable feeling of impending doom through it's riffs or atmosphere. Back when I started this blog, I was talking to a guy called LibertyCaps on the forum at the now defunct stonerrock.com. He made some great proto-doom comps, all of which I have posted here at some point. Since then I have received many requests for more in his series "The Doom That Time Forgot" so I have decided to make my own follow-up to his great mixes, and what cover artist's work can I use other than the amazing Virgil Finley again? His unearthly, esoteric vignettes where made to be album covers..

We start with Stockholm, Sweden's Life. The band was started in 1970 and contained three guys who at that time were about 20 years old. Those three were the guitarist and piano player Anders Nordh (Trolls, King George Discovery, Blond) the bassist Paul Sundlin (Trolls, King George Discovery) and the drummer Thomas Rydberg (Rowing Gamblers). It reminds me in a way of krautrockers My solid Ground. Similarly they were all very young, just in their early 20's, but somehow managed to create a very mature sounding record with a mix of rockers and symphonic prog. 'Sailing in the Sunshine' has a feel all of its own.

Sum Pear

Sum Pear were a duo, guitarist/keyboard player Sonny Hahn and singer/keyboard player Doug Miller, who were supported by a rhythm section of bassist Bob Dorsa and drummer John Scaduto for recording their sole album, 'Sum Pear'. It's one of those transitional early 70s albums which confounded it's writers' abilities to cohesively blend what was around so it contains an equal mix of 60s west coast style psych/folk tracks, and tracks with the newer over-driven heavy sound. Orange County, CA's Supa Chief featured Bob DeMalignon on Vocals, the Shattuck brothers (Dan and James) on guitar and drums respectively, Mike Carousal (guitar) and Dennis Koker on bass. They had a particularly bludgeoning guitar sound for 1969 and it's a shame there was no more than a couple of singles from them.

Nautilus

Aarau, Switzerland's Nautilus produced an interesting debut album in 1978. Even then it was probably a little behind the times and not consistently great, but it had a few flashes of grandiose brilliance like the title track included here which succeeds perfectly in its epic pomp-prog intentions, using thick layers of hammond, guitar and vocal harmonies. Like Sum Pear, Toronto's The Cycle (who evolved out of The Magic Cycle) suffered from the pop/psych and hard rock split-identity crisis, with the hypnotising groove of track 'God' thankfully scoring a win on the hard rock side.

The Misunderstood

The Misunderstood, who's story of woe has been well documented, moved from California to the UK just at the right time in the late 60's after being championed by influential radio DJ John Peel. They were plagued by bad luck, such as losing members to the US draft, though they recorded some singles they never managed an album. Glenn Ross Campbell coaxed a maelstrom of anguished sounds from his steel guitar which can be heard on the included track 'Golden Glass'. A later member of the band, the englishman Tony Hill, went on to join the thunderously heavy High Tide, who featured a couple of tracks here including vol3 and vol27.

Czar

From Bay City, MI, Mad Dog's story seems to be another of a band who never found label favour or any other returns for the hard work peddling their heavy style, which was somewhere between the Detroit/MC5 sound and stripped-down heavy metal. They recorded two albums and reportedly played up to 250 shows a year but radio wasn't biting and they disbanded in 1983. The track here 'Strange' is one of their slower numbers that shows their idiosyncratic and fluid, understated abilities. Czar (originally 'Tuesday's Children') were an early prog band that played support for all the right names including Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, The Animals, The Nice, Hendrix, The Who and a budding King Crimson, to name a few. The track used here 'Tread Softly On My Dreams' opens their sole s/t album in an extraordinarily powerful way and taps into the subconscious with a cyclical riff that bears down on you.

Invisible

The comp takes a bit of latin direction with the next two tracks. Enigma! is hard to find info on, but I can tell you they made a self-titled album in 1972 which, apart from this brooding track 'Call Of The Woman', is quite upbeat in the "Chicano Rock" way and has great gravelly vocals from Sergio Gonzalez. Argentina's Invisible employs the distinctive guitar talents of Luis Alberto Spinetta, who has appeared here before on the south american special, vol43. The captivating main riff drifts in and out of the jam, played with Luis's effortless skills going off in any direction he pleases.

Country LAne

Country Lane, from Neuchâtel, Switzerland end the comp. They made one album in 1973 which instead of falling in with the German sounds of the time like most Swiss bands, gives a nod toward the more theatrical stuff from Uriah Heep or Deep Purple, and some say with a bit of early Genesis and their quirky humour. 'With A Sweet Whistle To My Ears' stands out, which begins in a similar way to Czar's track; a huge grinding hammond-assisted riff right up front.

Nice! Glad the DTTF torch has officially been passed. That was my original intention all along. Catch myself thinkin' about doing a few more volumes lately. I've been busy buying loads of vintage titled CDs....so ample Heavy Obscura tracks of like-minded quality still to compile. (Watch this space...)Cheers, robocop!~libertycaps

A BIG HOWL!!!(SHOUTING)THANKS A LOT FOR THESE GREAT COMPS,RICH!YOU RULE ,MAN.AT LAST ONE APPEARENCE OF THIS BELOVED BAND FROM MY COUNTRY (MEXICO):ENIGMA.I APPRECIATE THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR TIME AND LISTENED TO ENIGMA'S ALBUM.AND ALL THE OTHER BANDS ON THIS COMPILATION THAT DESERVE A PLACE IN MY COLLECTION.THANKS AGAIN AND A BIG HUG AT THE DISTANCE.GREETINGS FROM PUEBLA,MEXICO.LUIS GERARDO AVILA VAZQUEZ A.K.A. LUGER WOLF.

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Unzip problem? Make sure you enter the password, and for MAC users especially, I recommend using the free, opensource program 7Zip (there is a MAC version too), which is what I make the zips with. Feel free to contact me, or report dead/erroneous links, at: aftersabbath@live.co.uk If you have trouble with any volumes in particular email me and I'll sort out alternative methods.